Consumers rarely have the time to consult all financial institutions for financial instruments. Often a need for a financial instrument, such as a loan, may arise suddenly and in a location such that the consumer is unable to adequately investigate his or her options. Typically, such a need arises when the consumer is at the point of purchase, without the time or resources to search for ways of financing a purchase. Even more often, the consumer is unable to investigate any options for financing a purchase. In those occasions, the consumer has little or no ability to access financial institutions to make inquiries on how best to finance a purchase. Additionally, consumers may not realize that they have options in financing purchases. In addition, it is costly for financial institutions to mass market financial products and instruments to consumers due to the relatively low acceptance rate of such offers, which creates a high incremental marketing cost per accepted offer.
In addition, existing regulations on the handling of consumer credit information limit the access and use of consumer credit information by entities that access consumer credit information from credit bureaus. For example, under current U.S. federal regulations, an entity that is not an agent of a credit bureau that takes possession of the name, address and credit information of a specific individual is committed to make that individual a firm offer of credit. These and other regulations on the access and use of individual's credit information from credit bureaus result in inefficient marketing of financial products to qualified individuals.
In order to better meet consumer expectations and to enhance an entity's marketing of financial products to qualified individuals, it would be desirable for financial institutions to have the ability to offer pre-qualified consumers customized financial instruments in essentially real time at the time that the consumer is most likely to be receptive to an offer, as many consumers do not, or may not, realize their financial needs until they need credit, such as for example when making a purchase. Today, financial instrument offerings that may be offered to consumers in essentially real time and substantially at the time of the request are often limited in the amount of offered credit due to the time required for financial institutions to conduct any qualification procedures. Under tight time constraints, financial institutions often offer very conservative financial instruments to consumers. Even at conservative levels, such financial instrument offerings may be risky to the offering financial institutions due to the inability to thoroughly check and/or confirm the requesting consumer's credit-related information.
Systems and methods for offering financial instruments to consumers have been disclosed in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,721, issued to Norris and titled “System and Method for Real-Time Loan Approval,” the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in a manner consistent with this disclosure, discloses a method and system for automatic processing of a loan application. An applicant for a loan interfaces with a programmed computer processor. The applicant provides data to the processor, which then determines the information needed to process the loan, determines whether to approve the loan and effects electronic transfer to the applicant's account. The process is completed without human intervention, and the processor utilizes a neural network with input obtained in part from the applicant and in part from databases accessed by the computer, such as credit bureaus to obtain a credit report.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,940,811 and 6,105,007, both issued to Norris, and titled “Closed Loop Financial Transaction Method and Apparatus” and “Automatic Financial Account Processing System,” respectively, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in a manner consistent with this disclosure, disclose a method and system for closed loop, automatic processing of typical financial transactions, including loans and setting up checking, savings and individual retirement accounts, obtaining cashier's checks, ordering additional checks, issuing credit and debit cards and wire transferring money. The systems operate with no human intervention. An applicant obtains information needed to process the application, and the processor decides whether to approve the application, effects electronic fund transfers, controls documentation requirements and obtains acknowledgement of acceptance of terms from the consumer by having the consumer sign an electronic signature pad.